Saskia Bruysten

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Saskia Bruysten (born 1980) is a German-Canadian entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and CEO of Yunus Social Business.

Early Life

Bruysten was born in Stuttgart, Germany and grew up near to New York, USA, and later on, near to Frankfurt, Germany.

At 17 she became Vice European Champion with her horse-vaulting team.

She earned a Master of Business Administration from EBS University and later a Master’s in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Career

Bruysten started her career at the Boston Consulting Group in 2003 in Munich, Germany and then in New York, USA. After 5 years, she left management consulting, wanting to use her business knowledge to tackle social and climate problems.

In 2008, while completing her Master’s degree at London School of Economics, Bruysten saw a talk given by Peace Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Inspired by his concept of social business, Bruysten approached Yunus and asked how she could work with him.

Bruysten then visited Yunus to see some of the social businesses that Yunus had built in Bangladesh. Bruysten then connected with German entrepreneur Hans Reitz and helped establish Grameen Creative Lab, a Germany-based company aiming to promote the concept of social business in a European context. Sophie Eisenmann, a friend from Bruysten’s student time, later became an employee there too.

In 2011, Bruysten, Yunus and Eisenmann agreed to co-found Yunus Social Business with the aim of supporting the development of social businesses in countries beyond Bangladesh. Yunus Social Business provides patient capital to social businesses. In this role, Bruysten has been Co-Initiator of the COVID Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs together with the World Economic Forum and the Schwab Foundation, an alliance of over 100 social-impact organisations to bring attention and support to social businesses, and Co-Initiator of the Unusual Pioneers, a social-intrapreneurship accelerator.

Bruysten serves as a board member of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), a board member of the ZEIT Green Council, advisory-board member of Impact Bridge, and a member of the board of advisors for MyCollective. She is also a member of the Young Presidents Organisation since 2016.

Personal Life

Bruysten is married to Coen van Oostrom, Dutch entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Edge, with whom she has a son.

Awards

·Focus Money Female Finance Award - Sustainability 2022 ·NatWest WISE100: Leading Women Award 2021 ·Vordenker Award 2020 by BCG and Handelsblatt ·BOLD Woman Award 2020 by Veuve Clicquot ·Meaningful Business Leader 2020 ·Capital Top 40 Under 40 2020 ·Capital’s Young Elite 2018 ·Capital’s Young Elite 2017 ·Edition F 25 Women Who Make the World Better 2016 (25 Frauen, die die Welt besser machen) ·Generation CEO Member 2010

References

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